Terminal



Aug. 6, 1957 R KIRK 2,802,194

' TERMINAL Filed Oct. 28, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR.

SW5 W W HIS ATTORNEY Aug. 6, 1957 R. E. KIRK 2,802,194

TERMINAL Filed 001:. 28, 1954 4 SheetsSheet 2 INVENTOR.

ms ATTORNEY R. E. KIRK Aug. 6, 1957 TERMINAL 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 My J I l w hm W W.

HIS ATTORNEY 6, 1957 R. E. KIRK 2,802,194

TERMINAL Filed Oct. 28, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 IN V EN TOR.

BY fioerf 9674 g U -m HIS ATTORNEY United States Patent w TERMINAL Robert E. Kirk, Warren, Ohio, assignor to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Application October 28, 1954, Serial No. 465,255

3 Claims. (Cl. 339-276) This invention relates to a connector or a terminal adapted for making electrical connections.

An object of the invention is to provide an electrical terminal or connector in which the electrical terminal extends transversely of the length of a conductor on which it is attached.

It is another object of the invention to provide an electrical terminal or connector that includes a terminal end portion, adapted for electrical conductive attachment to a fitting, that is provided with a ferrule portion for receiving and retaining a conductor on the terminal end portion in a position to place the terminal end portion transversely of the length of the conductor with the ferrule portion disposed substantially in the plane of the terminal end portion.

Another object of the invention is to provide an electrical terminal in accordance with the foregoing object wherein the terminal end portion has a keyhole type of slot in the flat platform portion thereof to provide for a snap-on fitting of the terminal end portion on a suitable terminal lug.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings wherein a preferred form of the invention is clearly shown.

in the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective elevational view of an electrical terminal incorporating features of this invention.

Figure 2 is a cross sectional view taken along line 22 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view taken along line 3--3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a plan view of the terminal prior to its attachment to an electrical conductor.

Figure 5 is a side view of the terminal of Fig. 4 as taken from the left hand side thereof.

Figure 6 is a side view of the terminal of Fig. 4 as taken from the right hand side thereof.

Figure 7 is aplan view of the strip from which the terminal of Figure l is obtained.

Figure 8 is a perspective view of apparatus for attaching the terminal of Figure 4 onto conductors.

Figure 9 is a perspective view similar to Fig. 8 but having one of the ferrule forming stations removed.

Figure 10 is a front view of the machine of Fig. 8.

Figure 11 is a vertical cross sectional view of the machine taken substantially along line 11--11 of Fig. 10.

The terminal or conductor of this invention is illustrated in Figure 1. The terminal 10 comprises a terminal end portion 11 that forms a relatively flat platform portion, and generally is termed a spade terminal.

The terminal end portion 11 is generally U-shaped, as shown in Figure 1, with the parallel extending legs 13 and 14 forming opposite sides of a slot 15 adapted to receive a terminal fitting for making electrical connection with the terminal end portion 10. The slot 15 has an enlargement 16 at its inner end to .receive a terminal fitting, the enlargement 16 being just sufficient that the ferrule part 26 is formed from the portion 26a.

2,862,194 Patented Aug. 6, 1957 legs 13 and 14 of the terminal end portion will spring out wardly sutficiently to allow entry of a terminal fitting into the enlarged opening 16, the spring tension of legs 13 and 14 providing a snap-on attachment of the terminal 10 onto a terminal fitting.

The flat platform portion 11 has a shank portion 20 that is disposed in the plane of the platform portion 11 and projects from the platform portion in the direction of its length. That is, the shank portion 20 is aligned with the leg portion 14 of the terminal in the direction of the length of the leg portion 14. Also, the shank portion 20 is disposed substantially between a median line between opposite edges of the platform portion and one edge thereof so that the shank portion 20 is offset relative to the body of the U-shaped terminal 10.

A ferrule portion 25 is disposed at the end of the shank portion 20 and is substantially in the plane of the shank portion 20 and the platform portion 11 of the terminal. The ferrule portion 25 has its length disposed transversely of the shank 20, but generally in the plane thereof, so that the terminal 10 is disposed transversely of a conductor 30 on which the terminal is attached.

The ferrule portion 25 comprises a first part 26 that is formed around an insulated portion of the conductor 30, as shown in Figure 2, the part 26 being generally'of circular form.

The ferrule part 26 is aligned with the shank 20 and the leg 14 of the terminal 16) in the direction of the length thereof and thus has its length defined within the Width of the shank 20.

The ferrule portion 25 has a second part 28 that is mechanically clamped upon the Lin-insulated portion of the conductor 30, as shown in Figure 3, whereby to make electrical connection with the conductor. The ferrule part 28 is aligned with the ferrule part 26 in the direction of its length and thus is disposed transversely of the length of the platform portion 11 and of the shank portion 29 The terminal part 28 projects from the shank portion 20 transversely thereof, as shown in Figure 1.

The terminal 10 illustrated in Figure 1 is more specifically illustrated in the enlarged views of Figures 4, 5, and 6, the ferrule parts 26 and 28 being illustrated as formed prior to the attachment to the conductor 30. As illustrated in Figure 5 the ferrule part 26 has a portion 26a formed on one side of the platform portion 11 and the free end 26b thereof is disposed on the opposite side of the platform portion 11. Thus when the ferrule part 26 is encircled around the conductor 30, shown in Fig. 2, the axis of the ferrule part 25 is substantially in the plane of the platform portion 11.

The ferrule part 28 as illustrated in Figure 6, comprises a substantially U-shaped configuration forming a trough 29 adapted to receive the un-insulated end of the conductor 30. When pressure is applied upon the ends 31 of the ferrule part 28 they are forced together to mechanically clamp upon the un-insulated conductor 30, as

shown in Fig. 3.

In Figure 7 there is illustrated a series of terminals 10 arranged in strip form in which they are fed into a suitable machine for attachment to the conductor 30. The flat blank of the terminal is shown on the right hand end of the terminal strip and is identified by the reference numeral 19a. The ferrule part "28, illustrated in Figure 6, is formed from the portion 28a while the When the strip of terminals is fed into a machine the portion of the strip between the dot-dash lines 43 Figure 7, is removed to separate the strip into the independent terminals 10. I i

In Figures 8-11 there is illustrated a machine for attaching a terminal 10 to a conductor 30. The machine comprises a machine bed 5 on which a terminal strip 60 is placed with the ferrule portions 26 and 28 riding in a groove 61. A reciprocating feed finger 62 engages the terminals a in the slot to feed them one at a time beneath the ferrule forming dies 65 and 70. The ferrule forming die 65 is provided for forming the ferrule part 26 from the configuration illustrated in Figure 5 to the configuration illustrated in Figure 2 by which the ferrule forming part 26 encircles the insulated portion of the conductor 30 and fastens it to the terminal 10. The ferrule forming die 70 is provided to form the ferrule part 28 from the configuration illustrated in Figure 6 to the configuration illustrated in Figure 3 by which the ferrule part 28 mechanically clenches the un-insulated portion of the conductor 30 to provide electrical connection therewith.

The machine bed 50 has an anvil part 71 having the grooved anvil seat 72 in which the ferrule part 26 seats. Immediately to the rear of the anvil 71, there is the anvil 74 that has the anvil seat 75 that is engaged by the bottom portion of the ferrule part 28.

A guide finger 76 rests in the grooves formed by the ferrule parts 26 and 28 to retain the terminals against the anvil seats 72 and 75. Another guide finger 77 is positioned above the shank portion of the terminal 10:: to also retain the terminal strips upon the anvils.

The forming die 65 has the contoured edge 78 that cooperates with the anvil 71, as shown in Figure 10 to form a circular die cavity 79 in which the ferrule part 26 is formed around the conductor 30 when the die 65 closes to the position illustrated in Figure 10.

The ferrule forming die 70 for the ferrule part 28 is more particularly illustrated in Figure 9. The die 70 is provided with a formed recess 80 that has the curved portions 81 and 82 adapted to engage the ends 31 of the ferrule part 28 by which the ferrule part is formed from the contour illustrated in Figure 6 to the contour illustrated in Fig. 3 in clenching engagement with the conductor 30 for electrical contact therewith. The ferrule parts 26 and 28 are formed simultaneously when the two forming dies 70 and 65 are in the down position, illustrated in Figure 10.

In Figure 7 it will be noted that the terminal strip containing the terminals 10 is formed in a manner that there is provided an opening 90 between each of the terminals 10, the opening 90 being adjacent the ferrule part 28. When the ferrule forming die 70 moves downwardly to clench the ferrule part 28 onto the conductor 30, the leg 91 of the die 70 moves downwardly through the opening 90 so that the contoured recess 80 of the die 70 will pass over the ferrule part 28 and cause the inner leg 31a, see Figure 7, of the ferrule part 28 to be formed in the manner illustrated in Fig. 3.

Between the forming dies 65 and 70 there is provided a cut-off punch 95, as shown in Figure 11, by which that portion of the terminal strip between the dot-dash lines 40 of Figure 7 is removed concurrently with forming of the ferrule parts 26 and 28 to sever the formed terminal from the terminal strip.

A holding plunger 96 engages a terminal 10 as shown in Figure 11, to retain the terminal upon the anvil 71, the lower end 97 of the holding punch 96 entering the opening 98 in the lower anvil 71. A suitable compression spring is operated by the plunger 96 to effect pressure engagement of the plunger upon the terminal held in position on the anvil seats 72 and 75.

While the form of embodiment of the invention as herein disclosed constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted as may come within the scope of the claims which follow.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. An electrical terminal constructed to be compact yet flexible and easy to stack in assembly free of requiring any substantial degree of bending of any portion thereof when a stud nut is pulled down upon terminals stacked on a fitting under the same nut, comprising, a ferrule portion for receiving and retaining a conductor axially therewith, a terminal end portion extending transversely of the length of the conductor from said ferrule portion, a platform portion with said terminal end portion ineluding a pair of parallel extending legs with said terminal end portion, said legs forming a slot therebetween adapted to receive the fitting for making electrical connection therewith, a shank portion with said terminal end portion connecting said platform portion with said ferrule portion, said shank portion extending transversely of said ferrule portion in a plane coextensive with said platform portion and being attached with said platform portion substantially between a median line between opposite edges of said platform portion and one edge thereof, a first ferrule part encircling an insulated portion of the conductor at a position of said ferrule portion aligned with said shank portion, a second ferrule part encircling an un-insulated portion of the conductor, said first and second ferrule parts having an axis coinciding with the axis of the conductor and said axes lying in the plane of said shank portion and the plane of said platform portion so that in stacking said terminal the bending of any terminal portion is eliminated because the axis of said ferrule portion is coplanar with said shank platform portions.

2. A spade electrical terminal constructed to eliminate bending of any portion thereof during assembly on a fitting in a stack of terminals, comprising, a ferrule portion having a first part encircling an insulated portion of a conductor and a second part encircling an un-insulated portion of the conductor, said first and second ferrule parts each having an axis coinciding with the axis of the conductor, a terminal end portion including a U-shaped fiat platform adapted for electrical conductive attachment to a fitting, a shank coplanar with said terminal end portion connecting the same to said ferrule portion at said first part thereof to provide firm and solid attachment with the insulated conductor portion for rigidity freeing the attachment between said second part and the un-insulated conductor of flexing that causes breakages of the conductor, said U-shaped platform together with said shank forming an h-shaped structure with said shank offset relative to a median line between opposite parallel edges of said U-shaped platform, said first and second ferrule parts formed and bent to be coaxial with an axis through the center of the conductor and said shank extending radially thereof to be coplanar with said terminal end portion and the axis of the conductor thereby forming a compact spade terminal eliminating bending of any portion thereof in stacking terminals over the electrically conducting fitting.

3. The electrical terminal of claim 2 in which the U-shaped platform provides opposite legs joined at one end and separated otherwise by edges of a slot extending longitudinally into the platform transverse to said ferrule portion in a space coplanar with the platform and axis of the conductor from an edge of the platform remote and transverse to the slot, said slot having a keyhole type enlargement at the terminus inner end thereof to provide transverse thinning laterally across each of said legs for spring tension therein laterally during snap-on attachment of the terminal onto the fitting for electrical connection therewith.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 422,058 Mclntire Feb. 25, 1890 1,067,702 Wiegand July 15, 1913 1,706,005 Thompson Mar. 19, 1929 1,946,713 Dowley Feb. 13, 1934 2,350,765 Johnson June 6, 1944 2,439,947 Pontius Apr. 20, 1948 2,539,332 Schneider Jan. 23, 1951 2,555,075 Bergan May 29, 1951 

